1st May 2017 – Liberland National Chess Team played against Réseau de Mat, the best chess club in Ivory Coast. The team composed by Gabriel German Montoya, Jonathan Cayla , Marouan Fariat, Vakil Akhtar, Michael Chukwuma Mkpadi, Moudden Abdeljebbar, Mihai Tiberiu Dima and Mrinmoy Bagchi gave Liberland a historic win of 7-1 (2 draws, 6 wins).

This online match conducted on Playchess.com was a big success. The 1st board, broadcasted on Chess Club Live, was viewed by 12 000 persons via Facebook live. The live was even shared by Vít Jedlička, the President of the Free Republic of Liberland! This match has shown that Liberland could build a strong chess Federation in the future with a very competitive team. Other matches and a national championship should be conducted this year with the main objective to be a Fide approved member and the possibility to send a team during the Olympiads and the European Chess Championship.

The initiative to conduct this event was taken by the two captains, Mario Kpan (Réseau de Mat) and myself, Jonathan Cayla (President of the Liberland Chess Federation) with the help of Michael Chukwuma Mkpadi (Vice President of the Liberland Chess Federation, and Chess Club Live founder and CEO). But it’s also thanks to Vít Jedlička, President of the Free Republic of Liberland, to our officers, to our 110 federal members, and to Martin Fischer who gave us the possibility to play this match on Playchess.com.